Bottle closure



pr S, 1947. C, E PAlNE 2,418,723

BOTTLE cLosuRE 'Filed June 14, 1946 v VEN TOR CHARLES E.' P//VE Arron/vers Patented Apr. 8, 1947 UNVE'ED STATES PATENT OFFlCE BOTTLE cLosURE Charles E. Paine, Woonsocket, R. I.

Application .inne 14, 1946, Serial No. 676,623

This invention relates to bottle closures and has more particular reference to bottle closures adapted to be used for sealing bottles after the original closure member or cap has been removed.

One object of the invention is to provide an airtight bottle closure which may be easily and quickly applied to or removed from the bottle without the use of an instrument.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bottle closure including a cap having a resilient liner and a contractible loop of resilient 'structure interposed between the cap and the liner and means for contracting the loop.

` Another object of the invention is to provide an airtight bottle closure as characterized above, wherein a camming lever operating in a plane 'tangential to the cap is provided for contracting the resilient loop.

y Another object of the invention is to provide -an airtightbottle closure as characterized above,

wherein means are provided for holding the camming lever in open and closed positions.

- Another object of the invention is to provide an airtight bottle closure as characterized above, wherein the resilient liner is so constructed that upon contraction of the resilient loop an airtight 'seal is provided around the entire outer periphery of the bottle lip,- as well as simultaneously effecting an airtight seal upon the entire top surface of the bottle.

Another object of the invention is to provide an airtight bottle closure as characterized above, wherein the resilient liner serves the dual purpose, upon contraction of the resilient loo-p, of providing an airtight seal and also of furnishing a resilient reactio-n to the operation of the carnming lever and the contractible loop.

A further object of the invention is to provide an airtight bottle closure which may be economically manufactured and is safe and efficient in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention co-nsists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and illustrated inthe drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 shows the bottle closure of the invention in front elevation applied to the top of a bottle;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, with a part broken away, of the bottle closure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view through the closure member in place upon a bottle top, showing the locking lever in open position; and

7 claims. (c1. 215-45) Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the locking lever in closed position.

The particular embodiment of the invention sho-wn comprises an outer cap I0; an inner dexible, resilient cap or liner II; a resilient split ring I2 locatedbetween the outer and inner caps and having outwardly turned ends I3, the tips of which are provided with hooks Ill; and a locking lever I5 adapted to engage the outwardly turned ends I3 of the split ring I2.

The outer capV I0 is preferably stamped from a single piece of sheet metal or plastic material and comprises a circular top portion l5 and a depending skirt portion I'I. The skirt portion is formed with a circumferential inwardly projecting .ledge or shoulder I 8. At the front of the cap I9, a portion of the top and skirt is pressed outwardly to form a pear-shaped platform or pad I9 which serves as a mounting platform for the locking lever I5.

The inner flexible, resilient liner or cap II is preferably made of rubber or other similar material and comprises a circular top portion 20 and a depending skirt portion 2I The skirt portion is formed with a circumferentialinwardly projecting ledge o-r shoulder 22. The shoulder 22 formed o-n the rubber liner I I is spaced downwardly from the shoulder I8 formed on the metal cap I0, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The rubber cap or liner II is held within the metal cap Ill, preferably by crimping the lower peripheral edge of the skirt Il of the outer cap ID over the lower peripheral edge of the skirt 2l of the rubber cap II, as indicated at 23 in Fig. 3. The resilient, split ring I2 is preferably made of wire and is located between the o-uter cap I0 and the inner liner II and rests upon the shoulder 22 formed on the inner liner` Il, with its outwardly turned ends I3 projecting through an elongated slot 24 formed in the pad I9.

-The lockingl lever I5 is mounted on thepad I9 =Vand comprises yan elliptical shaped portion 25 having anl integral arm 26 projecting upwardly therefrom. The locking lever l5 is pro-vided with an outwardly turned peripheral flange 2l which projects-beyond and forms a housing for the hooked ends of the split ring. The member 25 is provided with an elongated slot 28 having rounded ends. The upper and lower edges and the rounded side edges of the slot 28 are provided intermediate their ends with opposing recesses 29, 39, 3| and 32, forming detents for a. purpose hereinafter to be described. The outwardly turned ends I3 of the split ring I2 project through the slot 28 formed in the pad I9.

Each of the hooked ends of the split ring I2 are provided with deformations in the form of a projection or shoulder 33. The shoulders 33 bear against the outer surface of the member 25, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and hold the lever tightly against the pad. In liigs.Y 1, 2 and 3, thebottle closure is shown in place upon a bottle 35. The bottle 34 represents a conventional beverage bottle and has the usual groove 35 formed therein below the lipv 36 forming the mouth of the bottle.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The device is placed on top of a bottle after the original cap or closure member has been removed. When the locking lever is in its open or unlocked position, with the arm of the lever vertical, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the device may easily be placed on or removed from a bottle top. In this unlocked position, the arm of the lever is held in the vertical position bythe detents 39 and 32, which receive the ends of the split 'ring'. The shoulders 333011 the ends of the split ring hold the lever tightly" against the pad.

To' lock the device on the, bottle top, the arm ofthel'ever is revolvediin a plane tangential to the cap? approximatelyv 90 in` either direction, until the ends2 of the split ring snap` into detents 29 and 3|. The' cammingy action of the upper and lower edgesotslot 28 on the. ends of the split ring causes l. A bottle closure comprising a cap having a top and a depending skirt having an opening therein, a resilient liner mounted within said cap and having its lower peripheral edge fastened to the lower peripheral edge of said skirt, a split ring provided with hooked ends mounted within said cap and interposed between said skirt and said liner with its hooked ends projecting through said. opening; and a lever having an elongated opening therein receiving and engaging said hooked ends and adapted, when loperated in a plane tangential to the skirt of the cap, to force the hooked ends toward each other by the camming action of the edges of the elongated opening onsaid ends, thereby contracting said ring.

2. A bottle closure, as Set forth in claim 1,

' wherein said skirt and said liner are each prothem to approach each other, thereby uniformly decreasing the circumferential length of the split ring: lf2! and causing the' iexiblel liner II' to. close in about the. circumference on the under vside of the lip of the bottle, as:l indicated at 31 in Fig. 4. This" resultsstretching; theV rubber liner across the. mouth of.. the bottle. due to the construction of the liner and; the fact that the bottom peripheral edge of the liner is securely fastened to the bottom peripheral' edge of: the outer cap. A seal has now b'eeni effected at the topo! the bottle; as indicated at 38, and on the outer under side of the; lip, as indicatedat 3.1. This seal is maintained andfoll'owed up by the internal compression resilience of the' rubber liner,.by the resilience due to the fl'exure of the rubber cap in thev area under the split ring i2", indicated at 3l', by the elasticity of 'the liner,and bythe spring resilience of the ring -I 2'.v Thus, the entire' outer circumferential area y 4of theA bottle lip is sealed. This particular construction greatly widens the range of eiective locking and sealingl of bottles with widely varying .tolerances of neck details. Y TheA opening 24 in the padx I9 formed on the outer' capif!) and the openingA 23 in the lever I5 .are made of such length as to permit the split .ring I2P tosexpand to a degree to prevent compression. ofthe liner by the ring when the lever is in open or vertical position, yet t0 permit the ends of the ring projecting through the opening 28 to press outwardly against thesides of the opening, due to their resiliency, thereby holding the lever I5 in the open or vertical position.

Having thus described` the invention, what. is claimedeisz vided with an inwardly extending circumferential shoulder and wherein said split ring rests on the shoulder formed on said liner.

3. A bottle closure, as set forth in claim l, wherein the portion of said: skirt surrounding the opening formed therein is pressed outward to form a platform having'a flat surface upon which said lever is mounted.

ll. A bottle closure, as set forth in claim 1, wherein said elongated opening in said lever is provided with an opposing pair of recesses formed in its upper and lower edges intermediate of the ends' thereof, and an opposing pair of recesses formed in its end edges intermediate of the` ends thereof, said recesses acting as detents to receive the ends of said split ring and cooperating therewith to hold said lever in a vertical open position and in a horizontal` closed position.

5. A bottle closure, as set forth in claim 1, wherein the hooked ends of the split ring are each provided. with a shoulder adaptedto bear against the outer surface of the lever to hold the lever tightly against the. capA and. wherein the lever is provided, with an outwardly turned peripheral flange extending beyond the hookedv ends of the split ring.

6. A. bottle closure, as set forth in claim. l, wherein the resilient linerinterposed between the` split ring and the bottle, is constructed and arranged with sufficient compressibility and space for iiexing as to alford resilient reaction tothe locking combination of the lever andv split ring.

7. A bottle closure comprising a cap having a top and a depending skirt portion having l an opening therein, a resilient liner mounted within said cap and having its lower peripheral edge fastened' to said. skirt, a split ring provided with outwardly turned ends mounted within said cap and interposed between. said skirt and said liner with its outwardly turned ends projecting through said opening; and cam means operatively engaged with the outwardly turned ends of the ringv for contracting the latter aroundsaid liner.

CHARLES' E. PAINE.A 

